'Girls' Request To Film On University Campus Was Denied

This article contains spoilers related to the season finale of Girls, so if you're still making your way through Season 3, consider yourself warned.

If Hannah's going to University of Iowa to participate in their creative writing workshop during the fourth season of Girls, it'll have to be filmed somewhere else. The university has reportedly denied HBO's request to film on their campus. Via Variety, Press-Citizen reports that UI spokesman Tom Moore confirmed that they were contacted by HBO and denied the premium cable channel's request to shoot episodes on their campus.

It's actually a little bit spoilery that this news would break, as it more or less confirms Lena Dunham's plans to have her character further her education across the country. She'll be bi-coastal! (It's an expression). It's sort of implied at the end of the Season 3 finale ("Two Plane Rides") that Hannah intends on participating in the workshop, even if it means a temporary move away from New York. That HBO was reportedly seeking permission to film at the University of Iowa seems to seal that deal, except that the university has a policy about not filming on campus, as it might be a disruption. The school has a connection to the series, beyond the plot, as Variety notes Girls staff writer Sarah Heyward is an alumna of the writing program.

While the show may not get to film on the actual campus, I can't imagine this would disrupt the intention of the plot as it relates to Hannah's educational pursuits. But there's no word on how the series plans to deal with this geographical setback, so who knows?

Girls wrapped up its third season last Sunday night with Hannah and Adam on the outs as Hannah chose to tell Adam about her plans to go to Iowa right before he was to make his Broadway debut. Things were rocky between them even before that, and I'm not even sure anyone -- including us -- knew Hannah had applied to the writing program, but considering she got herself somewhat randomly fired from her job the episode prior, the timing couldn't be more perfect for this opportunity to land in her lap. It's especially interesting to hear that we might be getting to see Hannah living and studying away from New York, even if it's only for an episode or two. There's no word on how many episodes HBO was looking to film on the Iowa campus.

As for the other "girls," we saw Jessa trying to help a woman commit suicide, Shoshanna learning that she's three credits shy of graduating, and Marnie kissing Desi. This, after enraging Shoshanna when she revealed she'd been sleeping with Ray. So much drama and we have plenty of time to wait to see where the story picks up.

HBO announced back in January that they were renewing Girls for a fourth season, and from what producer Judd Apatow told Hitfix, it sounds like the plan is to go back to ten episodes next season. The third season consisted of twelve.